Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Russia is reported to be considering forcing soldiers who are refusing to fight to serve in penal-style battalions under the command of the Wagner Group, which is desperate for new blood to replace its calamitous losses in the fighting in eastern Ukraine. ⬇️

2/ The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, which appears to be well-connected to insiders in Russia's security apparatus, reports that "the army command has found a very unusual way to solve the problem of "refuseniks" (or, as they are called, "500s")."

3/ (The number is a reference to the military 'cargo codes' for dead and wounded soldiers – the dead are categorised as 'cargo 200' (or '200s' for short) and the wounded as 'cargo 300', or '300s'. Soldiers have taken to calling refuseniks '500s'.)

4/ VChK-OGPU says: "They are now actively discussing the possibility of gathering all the refuseniks into the analogue of "penal battalions" and placing them under the command of the Wagner PMC.

5/ ""This is how the army thinks to get rid of inconvenient 500s, but at the same time scare the rest," said the source. The Wagner PMC is only too happy about such plans and intends to replenish assault companies with 500s, as they have huge losses and a very large shortage."

6/ Penal battalions (known in Russian as shtrafbats) were last used in World War II, under Stalin's Order No. 227. Soldiers or officers suspected of "reluctance to fight" were summarily stripped of rank and reassigned to a shtrafbat under Order 227.

7/ Shtrafniks were used essentially as cannon fodder, being made to run into minefields or projectile fire to assault enemy positions. If they survived and occupied their objective, they were rounded up and used again until they were killed or too injured to fight.

8/ 'Barrier troops' from the NKVD were positioned behind them to block their retreat. It's likely that Wagner troops would fulfil this role with the new shtrafbats, and would probably have orders to shoot any retreaters. /end

Source:
t.me/vchkogpu/35780